To better understand how the community feels about providing habitat for wildlife in their back (and front!) yards, Council conducted a community survey during 2010 and 2011. These survey asked residents what they have already done in their backyards, what they would like to do, what they would like to know more about and how Council is going in regards to creating habitat for urban wildlife.

Backyards for Wildlife BookletThe results from these surveys were used to develop the Bathurst Region Backyards for Wildlife booklet. This booklet has been developed with assistance of leading local naturalists and with feedback from numerous community members.

The booklet is a guide for the local community on the best ways to create a back (or front) yard that provides food, shelter or nest sites for a range of wildlife species, small and large, whilst still allowing space for pets and your family!

Every year in October Australians take time to count their local birds for Birdlife Australia's Birds in Backyards Program. The information is used to find out the most common birds, and which birds are in trouble.

The next count is 17 - 23 October 2016.

In 2015 over a million birds were counted across the country, with 4,852 counted around Bathurst. Our most common backyard birds were:

House Sparrow*

Common Blackbird*

Australian Magpie

Common Starling*

Superb Fairy Wren

*Three of the top five are introduced or feral species, not Australian natives.